I take Mötley Crüe a little more seriously than most people. Just a little, and that’s not saying much. But I chuckle a little less than the next guy when I hear there’s a new Mötley Crüe record dropping. Maybe it’s my age and where I was at in life when I discovered them. I mean Mötley Crüe is pretty fucking badass if you’re a first grader in the 80s. I’ve read The Dirt and Nikki Sixx’s recently published autobiography (skipping the awful discarded song lyrics littered throughout) and I at least recognize their place as the most notorious rock stars of their time, a time in which the most important job of a rock star was to be notorious. I have to respect that.
Everything since Dr. Feelgood has been total dogshit. And even though Nikki Sixx had always written all the music singlehandedly, none of his other projects ever managed to blow my skirt up so to speak.
But yeah, the original members of Mötley Crüe have reunited for a new tour in support of Saints Of Los Angeles, which came out yesterday. I got my copy last week, and have found myself listening to it more than I’ve chosen to, as it sits in my automatically generated “New Shit” playlist in iTunes, along with the new Tricky and some other stuff I’m currently in love with.
I’ll try to keep this brief. This is one half the best album they’ve made since Dr. Feelgood (which was their most solid album in my opinion), and one half exactly what everyone was expecting. And I’m being generous. I don’t recommend venturing past track six, entitled Motherfucker Of The Year.
The intro track is… I don’t know what it is. I could sit here and try and decipher what is being whispered / mumbled over those cool noises, but that would require me paying entirely too much attention to the lyrical content of a Mötley Crüe song. Let’s be real here. But it flows seamlessly into a track called Face Down In The Dirt, which is actually kinda fucking great. It’s got all the energy and attitude that made them awesome in 1985.
Between that track and the title track / single (which is better in context than on the radio) are a couple less rockin’ tracks that represent the more playful side of Mötley Crüe, nostalgic for whisky soaked memories on the sunset strip, surrounded by diseased drug addicts in acid wash jeans. I’m glad they embraced this shit though. Nothing pisses me off more than ancient bands that reunite to milk their old cash cows, only to reject everything that made them who they are.
I had to design some ads for the Bee Gees once when their new disc was competing for rack space with the likes of Avenged Sevenfold. And it drove me crazy that they nixed all my super sexy solid gold disco stuff for an edgy “punk” vibe. Come on, you’re the fucking Bee Gees. So be the fucking Bee Gees. Noone else is right now. So you be the Bee Gees, and let everyone else be everyone else. I never thought I would ever be disappointed by Barry Gibb. But I seriously digress.
Point is, I kinda half expected the Crüe to overcompensate for snickering skeptics by trying to be Slipknot or some shit. Going super heavy and aggro and acting like they’ve grown out of it in a desperate attempt to be taken seriously.
But apparently they know better, and they kept it real.
It’s just a shame that they ran out of energy halfway through… I hate to say it, but they’re not 21 anymore.
Saints Of Los Angeles
Released: June 24th, 2008
1. L.A.M.F.
2. Face Down In The Dirt
3. What’s It Gonna Take
4. Down At The Whisky
5. Saints Of Los Angeles (Gang Version)
6. Motherfucker Of The Year
7. The Animal In Me
8. Welcome To The Machine
9. Just Another Psycho
10. Chicks = Trouble
11. This Ain’t A Love Song
12. White Trash Circus
13. Goin’ Out Swingin’
About Skwerl
Kevin "Skwerl" Cogill was taught his first computer programming language by his Mother's marijuana dealer at age ten. His first job involved hustling TicketMaster lines on behalf of a New Jersey concert ticket broker at age fourteen, followed by a job in graphic design shortly after graduating high school and trade school simultaneously in 1998. He built his first website in 1996 or so, and continues to do things the way they should be done, rather than the way everyone else does. He's a bit of an asshole, but he's fiercely loyal to fellow fans of good music.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Skwerl now resides in Los Angeles.
June 27th, 2008 at 4:07 AM
Nice honest review man. I’ll have to check out Face Down in the Dirt via your recommendation.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:05 PM
Your review is dead on. Tracks 1-6 are great. The second half of the album gave me bad flashbacks of New Tattoo (if you understand what that means – I’m sorry.)
Am I the only one who thinks Generation Swine has some good songs on it? Maybe don’t answer that.
June 27th, 2008 at 4:17 PM
I completely agree with your review. Face Down in the Dirt actually made me think of Too Fast For Love (one of the most underrated albums ever – stoopid metal with punk attitude, but I digress). It is a thin line between dumb and idiotic and the line is crossed at Motherfucker of the Year. This Ain’t a Love Song is also pretty bad. Shame really…for three minutes I found myself back in ‘83! Shout…duh, duh….Shout…Shout at the devil!
June 27th, 2008 at 5:59 PM
The BEST song on the album is “Just Another Psycho”
Tracks 5 – 9 are the best tracks and are among the best tracks the Crue have ever written.
Listen to the album a few more times … it’s actually really good!!!
June 27th, 2008 at 8:34 PM
This is the worst motley record. And come on.. your a BEEGEES fan. Maybe if you had balls you would understand that there self titled and gen swine are there best works.
June 27th, 2008 at 8:44 PM
you fucking idiot, i’m not a bee gees fan.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:12 PM
oh you fucking liar
;)
June 28th, 2008 at 10:35 AM
I have to say I completely disagree just about everything you say in your review. I urge anyone who hasn’t heard this record to check it out for themselves.
“Mötley Crüe is pretty fucking badass if you’re a first grader in the 80s” haha… because I am sure you were above this in the second grade through twelfth.
I have to agree with Dave that 5 though 9 (I would to 12 though) are the strongest tracks on the record. The first 5 just seem so generic compared to the last.
“Everything since Dr. Feelgood has been total dogshit.” Dude this album reaks of New Tattoo.
In my “humble” opinion no Crüe record is ever gonna be TFFL or Girls Girls Girls. Those were their two best records closely followed by Feelgood.
I do really enjoy this record in it’s own right, just that your perception of it is completely ass backwards. That being said I do understand. If I were listening to the BeeGee’s in my Borat Banana Hammock starring at myself in a mirror that is back lit while listening to Stayin’ Alive… I may agree more with your opinion or at least comprehend it.
June 28th, 2008 at 1:02 PM
Disagree with your review, everyone is entitled to their own. I think the crue rock hard on this album..Chicks=Trouble is classic, Down at the Whiskey is great. They get it. THey know who they are and aren’t embarrassed by it. I wish more bands from their era would say yeah thats who and what we are and just go with it. They would be more successful and actually would still be around.
June 30th, 2008 at 7:33 PM
yeah. dude. you fucked Chinese Democracy in the ass for personal gain. No one cares what your opinion is. Your a fucking leach strapped on the packs of bands like the one you just bashed. Most of your review was pretty on point tho. —-BUT dude. there are some pretty good tracks on here considering how shitty Vince sings and the fact that they are 40+ ———bashing sixx a.m tho was foolish. The lyrics and the book are brilliant. Thus the massive fucking sales of the record. Worry about the FBI and the axlS dick mushroom stamping your forehead. k. Thanks.